5th June 2013 by Adam
The internet has made it very easy to compare different products, indeed you will probably find a comparison website for almost every product available and wedding insurance is no exception.
Many insurance comparison sites focus on price rather than the benefits of the products listed, so to help you make your decision on finding the best policy to protect your wedding we have compiled a list of things that you might want to check when comparing wedding insurance policies.
The wedding insurance policy you purchase should be done on the basis of how much you would need to claim if you had to cancel your wedding at short notice in its entirety, for one of the insured reasons.
While it may be tempting to go for a lower level of cover to save a little money, due to cheaper prices, you would only be able to claim up to the policy limit you have bought. For example if you purchased a Dreamsaver silver policy you would be covered up to £6,000, but if your wedding cost £10,000 and you had to cancel you would only get the maximum of £6,000 leaving you with a short-fall of £4,000.
At Dreamsaver we recognise that sometimes budgets have to be increased which is why we are happy to upgrade your policy to a higher level of cover for the difference in cost between the 2 policies.
Not all wedding insurance will cover deposits you have paid prior to purchasing your policy, therefore if you have already paid a deposit for your venue you may not be covered if you need to cancel or rearrange. Our Dreamsaver wedding insurance policy does cover deposits that have been paid before taking out the insurance, providing you don't know of any circumstances that may give rise to a claim.
The amount you can claim back for the additional costs for rearranging the wedding for an insured reason varies between policies. Some only offer 50% of the limit for total cancellation, for example if you had to rearrange a wedding costing £10,000 you would only be able to claim up to £5,000 for additional costs incurred in rearrangement.
Dreamsaver wedding insurance offers up to 75% of the cancellation limit for additional costs of rearrangement.
Most wedding insurance policies will apply an excess to any claims, meaning that the policy excess amount will be deducted from any money you receive from a successful claim.
Dreamsaver wedding insurance currently is one of the few wedding insurance policies on the market that has NO excess on any part of the policy.
It also worth noting that on some policies the excess charged differs between different sections of cover, for example cancellation and curtailment might be £50 and Public Liability might be £250.
While most wedding insurance policies will cover the Bride and Groom, or civil partner's liability (sometimes it is referred to as Personal Liability), not all of them will cover the liability of the guests.
With a Dreamsaver wedding insurance policy you can add Public Liability cover for your guests for an additional premium, this will cover the Bride and Groom and the guests up to £2 million. Some venues require liability cover up to £5 million. This can also be added to a Dreamsaver policy with the payment of the appropriate additional premium.
If you have purchased a wedding insurance policy that does not cover the liability of the guests we have a standalone Public Liability policy available that will cover you and your guests up to £5 million.
It is always a good idea to check with your venue as to whether they require liability cover for your guests and what level of liability cover they require.
Many wedding insurance policies will exclude any medical condition that you or a close relative has at the time of taking out the policy, therefore you would be unlikely to make a successful claim if you needed to cancel or rearrange your wedding because of it.
With Dreamsaver, provided the Bride and Groom or anyone else whom the wedding relies upon has not been given a terminal prognosis or is not undergoing tests, investigation or in-patient treatment for a medical condition it will be covered under the policy.
For further clarification please read out previous article on the Dreamsaver wedding insurance and medical conditions .
While many wedding insurance policies allow you to add marquee cover to a policy, very few will include cover for any mobile W/C units that you may also hire, leaving you to source cover for them elsewhere. Dreamsaver wedding insurance however, does include the cost of any mobile W/C units you might hire within the marquee cover, subject to the overall limit chosen.
If you have any requests for cover that fall outside the normal bounds of the standard Dreamsaver policy we are more than happy to approach the insurers on your behalf to see if cover can be provided. This may require the payment of an additional premium.
Please note: There are some things that insurers will not provide cover for. Firstly, cover for disinclination to marry, i.e. 'cold feet', no wedding insurance policy available in the UK will cover this at this point in time.
Secondly, insurers are unable to cover generators that you may hire to power electrical equipment in a marquee; this is because they present an attractive opportunity for thieves.
If you have any questions on Dreamsaver wedding insurance cover please call the office on 01483 562 662 and our staff will be happy to answer any queries you may have.
Please Note: Policies must be purchased a MINIMUM of 14 days before the ceremony date.
Please Note: This Article refers to an historic version of Dreamsaver Wedding Insurance policy. Policy Terms, Conditions, Exclusions and Prices may have changed. Please see the latest policy wording for more details